


do I dare disturb the universe?

by seemeeimbeebee



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Alternate Universe, Beatrice lives, Canon - TV, F/F, Heads up: I never read the books, Monty lives, R is Jacquelyn, Reunited and It Feels So Good, bisexual Beatrice Baudelaire, if the show writers can do what they want with canon then so can I, well mostly TV with a sprinkling of what I know about the books
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29978538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seemeeimbeebee/pseuds/seemeeimbeebee
Summary: A fic in which Jacquelyn arrives a little bit sooner, Olaf arrives a little bit later, and the Baudelaires are reunited with a survivor on the fire.
Relationships: Beatrice Baudelaire/The Duchess of Winnipeg, Jacquelyn Scieszka/Beatrice Baudelaire
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	do I dare disturb the universe?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to my first ASOUE fic ever written ever.
> 
> As the tags stated: I have never read the books! I saw the Netflix show, I really like it, but y'know adulthood is hard and finding time to devote to an entire series of books can be hard to do. So I researched instead because I love Jacquelyn and kept coming across "Jacquelyn is either R or R's daughter" but I didn't know what that meant so...some research was necessary.
> 
> And THEN I found that bit from one of Lemony's letters about him loving Beatrice even if she married R and I was like, "...HAROLD." 
> 
> So then this self indulgent fic was born and I hope you enjoy it too. Anyway, enough of my rambling: enjoy!

All curious stories begin in curious ways.

In this case, this curious story begins with a curious question from one Klaus Baudelaire. 

“Uncle Monty, did your labyrinth always have a statue of a woman in bronze holding a spyglass?”

Returning from the movies had all three Baudelaire siblings on alert, still looking out for something unusual. And a brand new statue that the Baudelaires could not recall seeing before was something that Klaus Baudelaire definitely could deem ‘unusual’.

Uncle Monty put the car in park and looked over at the labyrinth, a curious smile crossing his lips. “No, Klaus,” he responded cheerfully. “No, indeed that statue has not been there before, and how very astute of you to notice. Now, I know you must be tired, but it seems today’s surprises are not over quite yet.” His hand tightened around the steering wheel and the Baudelaire’s looked at each other nervously. 

Monty quickly unbuckled himself and flung the car door open. “Come along, children!” He beckoned them excitedly. 

“Is it wise to be going into a dark labyrinth at night?” Violet asked, holding Sunny a little bit tighter to her chest. It was clear she was still worried about ‘Stephano’, worried that perhaps he had found his way back into their lives already. 

“Not normally, no,” Monty replied, still keeping his tone light and cheerful. “But I believe there is a good friend of yours and mine in the center of that labyrinth.” He opened the car door for them. The three looked at each other nervously and unbuckled before falling into step behind Uncle Monty as they headed toward the mouth of the labyrinth.

“What if it’s one of Count Olaf’s henchpeople?” Violet whispered, keeping her siblings close to her. “We have no way to defend ourselves.”

“Ahp!” Sunny pointed out helpfully, a noise which here meant “snake”. 

“She’s right,” Klaus whispered. “If it goes south, we can run to the reptile room and release all the reptiles as a distraction, and then we’ll have Uncle Monty take us to the police and tell them everything that happened.”

When something goes south, it is a situation that has deteriorated unfavorably, much like that day the Baudelaires went to Briney Beach expecting a day of fun and relaxation before learning their parents died in a horrible fire.

If their experience with Count Olaf had taught them anything, it was that all sorts of situations could “go south” rather quickly, and the three children were utterly determined to avoid being caught unaware, and desperate for Uncle Monty to see everything they were seeing so they could avoid losing another person they had come to care for.

“Don’t worry Baudelaires,” the bronzed woman said gently, having descended from the center of the labyrinth and joining them at the entrance. Her features softened when she took in the trepidation on their faces. “I’m not someone to fear, or someone to bring you harm, I promise. And I promise your woes will be taken care of. There are some vigilantly fervent detectives looking for... _Stephano_.”

“Jacquelyn, I’m surprised but still thoroughly delighted to see you in my labyrinth, though I suspect this is not a normal house visit,” Monty replied, straightening his coat.

“I’m afraid not, old friend.”

It took the Baudelaire siblings each a moment to figure out what she meant and, more importantly, who she was.

“Eeeeb!” Sunny declared, a phrase which _here_ meant ‘I’m almost certain that we just saw you in that movie’.

“What my sister means is--” Violet started. 

“You saw me in the movie you just watched,” the woman said proudly, her voice full of warmth. 

“And at the play,” Violet recalled. “You were with a man named Gustav…”

Klaus gasped sharply, as if having an epiphany, a word which here means a great realization, but more specifically a connection illuminated by an usual comment made before Stephano’s arrival. “Uncle Monty, isn’t that the name of your assistant that suddenly disappeared without any notice?” he asked urgently, looking up for validation. 

“Yes. Gustav was my assistant’s name…” Monty replied faintly, the joy leaving his tone for a moment. His eyes flashed to Jacquelyn’s for a moment. He tilted his head questioningly, afraid to voice the question aloud in front of young ears who had already lost so much. Jacquelyn looked down for a moment, before she briefly shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together for a minute as if to compose herself.

“I’m sorry,” Monty said quietly, reaching out to gently squeeze Jacquleyn’s shoulder. “I know the two of you were partners.”

“I know you were too,” Jacquelyn said quietly. “He...thought so highly of you.”

“And he was clever as he was brave, Jacquelyn. I received message and the tickets to Peru, we were going to go in the morning--” 

“Gustav said the world is quiet here.” For some reason, the mention of Peru seemed to snap Jacquelyn back into action, the blank, dull look of grief leaving her eyes as quickly as it had appeared. “Peru’s been compromised,” she explained. “And your assistant Stephano is--”

“Count Olaf,” Monty finished the sentence for her. Four pairs of eyebrows shot up the entire time, all parties clearly shocked and awed at the revelation that Monty had known the whole time that Stephano was not who he claimed to be. “I’m sorry, bambini, for deceiving you. But I was worried that by overly alarming him, he would strike quickly and with deadly force,” he said sincerely. “I was using a method on our new friend that tends to work on the most dangerous of snakes.”

“Ehf,” Sunny muttered under breath, which the siblings took to mean ‘what’s the difference?’. 

Jacquelyn’s lips turned into the briefest smirk before she schooled her face again. “We didn’t deem it safe. And BB didn’t want to take any chances.” 

Monty inhaled sharply. “You mean--?” 

A peaceful look crossed Jacquelyn’s face as she nodded, unable to keep the joy off of her face. “Yes,” she whispered, clearly still holding onto the glee of the answer to Monty’s unspoken question. Then she looked down at the children again and her tone grew serious. “But we have to go now, before anything else is suspected and our enemies find us. I’m taking you through the tunnels. All of you. Have the children grab some things.”

“How can we trust you?” Klaus asked, his voice wobbling a little bit. Being taken by a strange woman to a strange place in the middle of the night was certainly a situation worth questioning even though time was of the essence. 

“I know your parents--” Jacquelyn started.

“Apy!” Sunny screeched, a phrase recognized by her siblings as ‘stranger danger’. 

Jacquelyn let out a quick laugh through her nose again before taking a folded envelope out of her dress’s pocket and handed it to Klaus. As the children silently read the letter, she continued, “Hopefully this letter of reference should vouch for me. You have an incredibly gifted mind just like--”

“Our father wrote this letter,” Klaus whispered, his voice choked up, torn between holding the letter tighter as if to keep his father there with him or to hold it with the gentlest of reverence so that no harm could ever come to it. 

“And at the bottom that’s a picture of me and--”

“Our mother,” Violet whispered in a trembling voice. “You...you both look so young here.”

“We went to school together,” Jacquelyn replied softly, kneeling below the Baudelaire’s eye level. “I know this must be very frightening and very unexpected. But I need you to trust me and trust your Uncle Monty.”

“He’s coming with us?” Klaus asked, a desperate note of hope creeping back into his voice.

“Of course I am,” Monty replied, squeezing Klaus’s shoulder. “I am your guardian after all.”

“Ahp?” Sunny asked worriedly.

“We are bringing in Veterinary Filler Defenders to protect and take care of all of the reptiles in the reptile room,” Jacquelyn assured Sunny. “Don’t worry, Sunny Baudelaire. Your new friends will be well tended to.” She smiled gently up at the Baudelaires. “Hopefully, this can be enough to garner your trust for now. I hope we can get to know each other very well in the coming days, Baudelaires, and the trust will grow in time.”

“Let’s let Jacquelyn get changed, and we’ll pack,” Monty replied, gently urging the children into the house. “Meet back at the bottom of the stairs in ten minutes! What an exciting adventure this truly will be!”

“Life is a conundrum of esoterica,” Jacquelyn muttered as she passed Monty, though all could hear a note of fondness in her voice.

“Do we really think this is a good idea?” Klaus whispered as so not to attract the attention of Uncle Monty or Jacquelyn downstairs. “Rushing to leave a home in the middle of the night because some woman told us to?” 

“Well, Uncle Monty is coming with us,” Violet pointed out, opening the suitcase to pack the few things the Baudelaire children owned. “And Uncle Monty knows her. And if our parents wanted us to come to Uncle Monty if anything happened to them and they knew Jacquelyn…” She looked out the window, trying to see if Count Olaf was lurking in the shadows. “It has to be better than sitting here waiting for Count Olaf.”

Klaus nodded in agreement and the siblings headed back downstairs. 

They found Jacquelyn fully de-bronzed and in a much more comfortable outfit suited for travel. De-bronzed, they could see her more clearly, but could also see the weight behind her eyes more clearly than they had in the darkness of the labyrinth. 

“Where are we going?” Klaus asked as they began to follow Jacquelyn back into the labyrinth.

“Not here, Baudelaires” Jacquelyn whispered. “There are too many ears that could be nearby.” A beam of car headlights began to turn down the lane, but Jacquelyn was unphased. She quickly pulled open a hatch, which Klaus silently noted had the symbol of Olaf’s tattoo and half of his spyglass on it.  
  
Monty climbed down first, silently beckoning the children to follow them. Violet hoisted Sunny onto her back as she climbed down into the hatch, and Klaus was soon to follow after. Jacquelyn followed him silently and closed the hatch behind them. She lit a torch for each of them and began to walk down the long dark tunnels.

\--

The Baudelaires were doing all right for a few hours, but the long day and slow decline of their adrenaline soon had them dragging their feet all but falling asleep where they stood.

“Do you think we’re far enough?” Jacquelyn whispered lowly to Monty. 

“I don’t think we have a choice, they can’t go any further,” Monty replied, double tapping a brick on the wall. The brick opened up and a bunk bed slowly lowered from the wall. Monty hoisted Klaus into the top bunk, while Jacquelyn helped Sunny and Violet rest in the bottom bunk. 

“You should rest too, I’ll keep watch,” Jacquelyn told him, stepping back as he tucked the children in. Their breaths were evened out already, as if they had fallen asleep the moment their weary heads had hit the pillows. 

“Jacquelyn, you have travelled very far in a very short amount of time, it is no trouble if you rest,” Monty assured her, patting another block to release a chair. “There is no shame in rest.”

Jacquelyn sighed, sitting down in the chair, leaning her head back against the wall. “Perhaps Gustav would still be here if I hadn’t rested,” she replied bitterly. “If I had come with him or done more to chase Olaf or--”

“ _Reina_.”

Jacquelyn brought her head up slowly at use of her given name. “You know I don’t like being called that unless the situation is dire,” she grumbled. “Or unless you’re Beatrice.”

“I used my judgement and decided that you blaming yourself for a situation that was not your fault was dire enough,” Monty teased goodnaturedly, sitting beside her for a moment. “I know you miss her.”

Jacquelyn smiled weakly, letting her eyes flutter shut. “My name never sounded so sweet until she said it for the first time. My mother always said my name was the greatest line of defense I had. My name was my way of keeping myself safe from her enemies, but to give it to Beatrice seemed like the most natural thing in the world.”

“Whatever our souls are made of, hers and yours were the same," he quoted to her. Well, paraphrased. 

“They were, for a time,” she whispered, lost to her own memories for a moment, a bitter smile twisting her lips. “But then...she fell for Lemony and then for Bertrand. Part of me will always belong to her, and I knew that when I let her go. But she was so happy, Monty. And I could never deny her anything when her face lit up like the sun.”

“It wasn’t for forever, but you still gave her your name.”

“I think a part of it is forever, even if it was not the way I had hoped for when we first met.” Jacquelyn laughed through her nose again. “Also, I was a child and perhaps did not always know how to exercise judgement in the way of a first love.” 

“A love that lasted in a lifelong friendship.” 

“...yes.” Jacquelyn’s smile softened as she relaxed.

“Good night, Jacquelyn. Sleep well.” Monty stood up, preparing to take the first watch.

Several hours passed without any incident until a cacophonous noise sounded down the tunnels, jolting Jacquelyn and the Baudelaires out of their sleep.

“What is that?” Violet asked worriedly.

“They must be somewhere in these tunnels,” Olaf growled lowly, his voice echoing around the tunnel walls, a jolt of trepidation passing through the five occupants. 

“It’s Count Olaf!” Klaus hissed worriedly, looking between Monty and Jacquelyn. “He’ll catch us for sure.”

Jacquelyn looked around. Ahead was a three way fork and behind them was Count Olaf so any decision needed to be made without a shred of hesitation. “Monty, do you remember how to get to my estate?” she hissed lowly.

“Yes, of course, but I…” Horror crept over his face as her meaning dawned upon him. “Jacquelyn, he’s a wicked man who has committed wicked deeds and will do so again.”

“I’ve encountered him before, I think I should be all right. He only tied me to a tree last time,” Jacquelyn said, her voice even. She looked down at the Baudelaire children and her smile grew. “Besides, I need to do what’s best for the children.” 

“This isn’t what BB would’ve wanted,” Monty urged. “Come with us.”

“The children's safety is exactly what BB would want and you know it,” Jacquelyn replied, tossing rocks down the path ahead of them to start drawing Olaf’s attention. 

“She wouldn’t want you risking yourself needlessly.”

“It’s not needless. For her? It never has been needless, and it never will be needless.” She took in a shuddery exhale, her lip quivering for the briefest of moments when she looked back at Monty. “You’ll tell her, won’t you? When you see her again?” 

Jacquelyn didn’t wait for an answer before she turned around. She began heading down the tunnel on the right hand side, yelling at the top of her lungs, “We have to hurry, Baudelaires, if we want to make it to the Mortain Mountains by the day’s end. There are Various Fine Debaters who are eager to meet with you.”  
  
Monty stealthily ushered the children down the passage going left. He stood at its entrance for a moment, hoping Jacquelyn would turn around and return, but she did not and he kept going.

Violet opened her mouth, surely to ask him a litany of questions he knew she deserved the answer to. But he did not want to get caught so he gently put his finger up to his mouth and tilted his head down the tunnel. 

The children traveled for what seemed like an interminable amount of hours. Every footstep was as loud as the pounding of their own hearts, and all parties were afraid to breathe too loudly in case Jacquelyn’s plan failed. 

They arrived at a long, winding staircase that went up. The sign closest to the staircase read “Winnipeg”. 

“What’s in Winnipeg?” Klaus asked softly, looking up at the top of the staircase. There was another hatch, like in the labyrinth at Uncle Monty’s house.

“Shall we find out together?” Monty asked, looking upward. The four began to climb up the stairs, and it was Violet who reached the hatch door first. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, to reveal a fabulously decorated library. 

A woman was sitting in a chair in the corner of that library reading _Anna Karenina,_ but she quickly stood up once the hatch door opened. “Violet?” the women asked breathlessly.  
  
Tears sprung to Violet’s eyes as she once again heard a voice that she thought had gone up in smoke and flames that would be lost to her forever. “Mother!” she cried, pulling herself out of the hatch and flinging herself into her mother’s arms. 

Beatrice and Violet collapsed to the floor, clinging to each other. Mother sobbed into her daughter’s hair and daughter into her mother’s shoulder. Beatrice reached for each of her children as they came through the hatch door, clinging to them with trembling but strong hands. 

Their joyous tears quickly bubbled into laughter as Beatrice lavished her children’s faces with kisses, utterly relieved that the plan had worked and her children were safely back in her arms. The children were equally relieved and felt as if a life raft had been thrown to them in tempestuous seas, knowing that their mother had survived the fire.

“Is Father here?” Klaus asked hesitantly when the man did not pop around the corner.  
  
Beatrice’s smile faded a little, but her hand cupped her son’s face. “I’m afraid not, my darlings. He...he got me to the door and closed the hatch as the house came down. I wanted to go back for him, but the door wouldn’t…” Her throat closed up as she spoke, and so she simply resorted to pulling her children close to her again. “I’m so glad you’re all right, children,” she whispered, stroking their heads and trying to commit their faces to her memories. “I heard you’d ended up in Count Olaf’s clutches.”

“They did, but being the brave and resourceful children they are, they were able to get themselves where they needed to be,” Monty said proudly, closing the hatch door behind him and locking it securely. He tucked the rug neatly over the door and for good measure, he took one of the dressers nearby and placed it on the rug. 

“Well, that’s what happens when Mr. Poe listens to the advice of a consultant rather than…” Beatrice had been smiling as she took in her old friend but when the fifth member of their party did not appear, she frowned. “Where’s Jacquelyn?” she asked, tightening her arms around her children protectively. 

Monty’s smile faltered. “Life is a conundrum of esoterica.”

“No…” Beatrice whispered.

“She was very brave,” Klaus was quick to assure his mother. “When we heard Count Olaf following us, she drew his attention to her and away from us so Uncle Monty could get us to safety.”

“That sounds like her.” Beatrice’s eyes immediately filled with tears which she hid by burying her face against Violet’s hair again. 

“Do you want me to make something for you to eat?” Monty asked, seeing as Beatrice still had not moved from the floor. 

“I am still a little weak from the fire,” Beatrice asked, resting her cheek now on Klaus’s hair. “I know you have been walking for a long while and probably have not slept. But if you can get me to the kitchen, I can make something. Jacquelyn left plenty of food for me to reheat easily.”

“This is Jacquelyn’s house?” Violet asked, looking around at the beautiful and ornate library. 

“Oh-pu,” Sunny said, a phrase which her family took to mean, “I didn’t realize that Mr. Poe’s office paid that well.”

“What is essential is invisible to the eye,” Beatrice laughed softly, kissing Sunny’s head. “Jacquelyn is an heir to a sizable fortune and position of affluence. She offered this home as a safehouse, given that few people know its location. She thought it would be a better place to hide me from our enemies.”

“Enemies?” Klaus asked curiously. “Why would you have enemies?” 

“There’s a long story to tell, and you will get all of it some time soon. But for now we should eat and rest…” Beatrice murmured, letting them go but not wanting to let them out of her sight. She stood on very shaky legs, looking at her three children. “And I must tell you something all first before we do anything else, and it is that I love you so very, very much.”

“We love you too, Mother,” Violet said, all but throwing herself back in her mother’s arms. Klaus and Sunny joined their hug and the Baudelaire family curled up together.

\--

Violet could not sleep, her mind turning over and over. It was so hard to believe that her mother was still alive, they were finally safe from Count Olaf, and that their mother’s social circles ran far wider and deeper than they knew. 

Klaus and Sunny were passed out fast asleep in their own beds and so Violet crept downstairs to make herself a cup of tea in the fantastic kitchen. The warm drink, she rationalized, would probably help her sleep again.  
  
But the voices in the library distracted her from the prospect of tea.

“Beatrice, you cannot wait here all night for news,” Uncle Monty was saying. “You still need rest and are in recovery.”

“I can rest right here and I shall while I wait for news,” Beatrice replied impatiently, though Violet heard the quaver in her mother’s voice and crept closer to the library door. “I lost Lemony and I lost Bertrand and I _cannot_ lose her too.”

Violet did not see her mother break down into sobs, only heard it and heard Uncle Monty shushing and soothing his friend. 

“She wanted me to tell you that she still loves you, even after all this time. She has always loved you.”

“I don’t want to hear it from you! I want to hear it from her!” she wept, her voice muffled by Monty’s shirt. She stayed there, shaking and sobbing for what seemed like a long while until she pulled back. 

“I know she does...she...the way she took care of me, how could I not?” Beatrice whispered, wiping at her eyes. “And I thought at first...perhaps I was confused or I missed Bertrand...but...I can see now. As a child, I loved her with rose colored glasses of the world, but there is a part of myself that was given to her as it was given to Lemony, and to Bertrand and to my children…”

Beatrice leaned her head back, closing her eyes. “Now that I’ve grown, I find that I love her the way sunflowers love the sun or sailors love Polaris. And I know that now because I love Lemony and Bertrand in very much the same way...when I fell in love with Lemony, I did not think it possible that you could love many people as one would call a soulmate...but as my soul has aged, it has had many loves and she has to know she was...she is one of them.”

“I’m sure she does,” Monty whispered. 

She buried her face back in her hands. “I...I will need time before we can even try again...I know that I love her, I do. But I also cannot deny that I miss Bertrand fiercely and I...I should be talking to _her_ about this. Not to you, Monty, though you have been very helpful.” 

Monty opened his mouth and closed it when he heard the door creak. He winked playfully when saw Violet. “It seems we have a voyeur in our midst,” he teased gently. “Violet, you can come in and join us. There are no secrets here.” 

Violet gently stepped into the room and her mother sat up straight. “Mother?” she asked hesitantly, shifting from foot to foot.  
  
Her mother wiping her eyes perfunctorily. “Come here, Violet,” Beatrice said, sitting up straight and opened her arms to her daughter. She smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes all the way. 

Violet tentatively approached her mother, feeling much like she might be in trouble for what she saw. 

“I’m sure you have many questions about everything you just heard,” Beatrice said gently, rubbing her daughter’s back once she pulled Violet into her arms. 

Violet nodded shyly, wrapping her arms around her mother. “I...there’s a lot I don’t understand about it,” she admitted. 

“Well, there is not very much I understand about it either,” Beatrice laughed weakly, kissing Violet’s forehead. She cupped Violet’s cheek, smiling sadly at her daughter. 

“You have known Jacquelyn since you were young,” Violet started unsurely, tying up her hair. She was trying to figure out just exactly how all of these pieces fit together. Even if it wasn’t an invention, her mind was still whirring with all the information she was internalizing.

“I have,” Beatrice replied. “We went to school together.”

Violet wanted to ask questions about the nature of their relationship, and how it all came together. And just who was Lemony? But Violet decided maybe starting at the end would help her understand the beginning. “But she knew Father too,” Violet said. “She showed us that Father wrote her a recommendation letter for her job for Mr. Poe.”

“He did. Jacquelyn and I were together for a time in our school days, but we separated on amicable terms as we got older,” Beatrice said. “And from then on, she became a dear friend as we both went through our lives. Any romantic partner of mine she met them as a friend and while she was not as close with your Father, there were certainly things they appreciated and admired about the other.” She played with her engagement ring for just a moment. 

Violet absorbed this information quietly, nodding her head as she sat down in the chair beside her mother. She was quiet for a long while, turning over the information over and over again before she could only think to ask one question, “And now?” 

Beatrice laughed this time, a delightfully joyful noise that was filled with surprise, warmth and strong maternal approval. “I know I promised Klaus that I would give you answers, but can you be patient with me if I don’t have all of the answers?” she asked affectionately.

“We can learn together,” Violet said instantly, gently putting her hand over her mother’s. Beatrice held Violet close to her heart and kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “Mother?” she asked softly. “You really should rest...after all, we can’t learn anything if we’re too tired, right?” Violet looked between her mother and her Uncle Monty expectantly. 

“Quite right, Violet,” Uncle Monty said warmly. “Now, a cup of vanilla and chamomile tea for everyone and then off to bed.” He waggled his finger playfully. “And no sneaking down here to keep reading, understand?” 

Violet smiled from ear to ear and allowed herself to relax in her mother’s arms before slowly drifting off before Uncle Monty ever returned with the tea. 

\--

A few days had passed since their arrival in Winnipeg. Both VIolet and Klaus could see that their mother had become much stronger since their return, though she often looked over at the very silent telegraph when she thought no one was looking.

Klaus looked around, hoping to distract his mother and lift up her spirits, when he noticed something quite odd indeed outside the large window. “Mother?” he asked curiously. “If this location is not very well known to many people, then why is there a taxi hurtling up the road toward the house?”  
  
Beatrice leapt to her feet and immediately pulled out a spyglass, looking out the window. “It’s Jacques,” she said breathlessly to Monty, her eyes flashing with an emotion Klaus couldn’t read. “My darlings, I must ask you to take your sister to the library, just for awhile--”

“Does he have news about Jacquelyn?” Klaus protested. “Jacquelyn saved us; I would like to know if she’s all right!”  
  
His mother’s eyes widened with surprise before an immeasurably fond look crossed her face. Though there was no way he could’ve known it at the time, Klaus had reminded his mother of something his father would’ve done that she could not help adore her son more for it and it warmed her heart both to the memory of her husband and to the living, breathing son before her against the cold, unyielding grip of grief and apprehension.

“Mipo!” Sunny’s agreement came from somewhere around his knee. 

“I promise to tell you everything Jacques tells me and introduce you to him,” Beatrice knelt in front of her children, as if swearing an oath of fealty to them and them alone. “But because I do not know what Jacques is going to tell me, it is news that I would prefer to not have you hear right away. If it is bad news, I want to take time to think about how I say it.” 

_If only Mr. Poe had taken the same consideration_ , Klaus thought wryly, thinking of that day on Briney Beach. Still, he leaned forward and hugged his mother tightly. “Then I hope it’s the best news,” he murmured confidently and his mother kissed the top of his head, smoothing back his hair.  
  
There was a time that maybe he would’ve begun to mind the action or protested he was growing too old to be fussed over by his mother. But almost losing her had him clinging to each gesture just a little while longer. 

He and Violet looked at each other before picking up Sunny and going to the library. Sunny loudly voiced her displeasure but there was nothing any of them could do about it. The three sat in the library, trying to read to Sunny, but found they could not focus on any book for particularly long, and found that their gaze kept going to the door. 

“Klaus?” Violet asked quietly after a few minutes of listlessly trying to find something to engage themselves in. “Have you read a book where eavesdropping is considered to be a good thing?”

“Well,” Klaus replied slowly at first, but picking up speed as he recalled the information. “There are many forms of eavesdropping. Some have been used to stop dastardly plots or to gain information that can stop wicked things from happening.”

“I think the wicked thing has already happened,” Violet said sadly, looking over her shoulder at the door to the library again.

“Maybe we should just wait for Mother,” Klaus said anxiously.

But no sooner than he said it then they heard their Mother’s terrified cry.

“ _Reina_!” 

Klaus and Violet rushed to the door, cracking open the door slightly just so they could see what was happening. 

“Beatrice, it’s all right. Jacquelyn is going to be just fine…” Monty soothed, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. “She’s home now.” 

They could not see Jacquelyn, but the flurry of activity suggested that Jacquelyn was at least alive.  
  
“You’re safe for now,” a tall man was telling their mother. “Jacquelyn was leading him toward the Mortain Mountains when Olaf caught up with her.” He smiled sadly, looking over his shoulder before looking back at Mother. “She fought as bravely as she could, and as I understand it left several bumps, bruises and broken ribs to be remembered by.”  
  
Mother was not looking at the man with the mustache but beyond him. Her hands were curled uselessly into fists at her sides. “Will she be all right?” she whispered. “Oh, Jacques...she looks awful…”

“Of course I’ll be all right...nothing rest and a new application of red lipstick won’t cure,” Jacquelyn rasped, her voice so faint that the Baudelaire children could barely hear her. 

“Reina,” Mother gasped, and rushed into the other room. The Baudelaire children both realized that Jacquelyn and Reina were one in the same, and they could no longer see what their mother was doing and only heard the faintest murmurs of a conversation but could not distinguish the words.

But given that this is a piece of fiction...you, dear reader, are able to see what exactly transpired between Beatrice and Jacquelyn in the other room.

Jacquelyn was set up in her own bed, lounging against the pillows. She had been tucked in comfortably and the room was neither too cold nor too hot. Her casted wrist lay atop the blankets, and she did her best not to fidget, especially when Beatrice drew near. 

“I always did like it when you called me by my first name,” she whispered softly, her face lighting up when Beatrice came to sit beside her. 

“I always thought it suited you. Though you have grown into Jacquelyn so elegantly,” Beatrice rasped, slipping her hand into Jacquelyn’s and squeezed gently. Even the small squeeze caused Jacquelyn to wince and Beatrice soothed that wince away with the gentlest of kisses.

Then she froze hesitantly and pulled back slightly, still holding onto Jacquelyn’s hand.

“You know I don’t expect anything from you,” Jacquelyn assured her, still only able to manage nothing more than a whisper. “You’re my friend above all else.” 

“I know,” Beatrice replied gently, still holding Jacquelyn’s hand. She wet her lips nervously and looked away for a moment. “What was it that Elizabeth Kluber Ross said?”  
  
“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to…” Jacquelyn recited.  
  
Jacquelyn squeezed Beatrice’s hand so that the other woman would look her in the eye instead of away. “I know,” she asserted. “And I _understand_. Beatrice, you never have to reciprocate my feelings. I would still be honored to call you my friend as I always have. I would still lay down my life to protect you and your children even if you never felt as I did again. If you decided that the children were the only loves in your life that you had room for, of course I would respect your wishes. As I did when you first were with Lemony and then Bertrand.”

“I know,” Beatrice murmured, still holding onto her hand. “There is...a tempest of emotions within me that I cannot understand. And I cannot say all of them are grief...there is one I am afraid to name.” 

“My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever,” Jacquelyn quoted simply, leaning into Beatrice’s hand which had now come to her cheek.

" _Rest_ ,” Beatrice emphasized, and Jacquelyn chuckled weakly. “It’s not the time, not right now…”

“There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet. There will be time to murder and create, and time for all the works and days of hands that lift and drop a question on your plate. Time for you and time for me, and time yet for a hundred indecisions, and for a hundred visions and revisions, before the taking of a toast and tea,” Beatrice whispered, gently tapping her forehead to Jacquelyn’s bruised one before pulling back. 

“In the room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo,” Jacquelyn continued, her eyes fluttering shut. A smile fluttered across her face as she settled back into her pillows. Then she frowned worriedly and her eyes fluttered open, “The children?”

“They’re safe. Monty got them here...they’re in the library,” Beatrice told her, gently brushing Jacquelyn’s bangs away from her face. “They’re worried about you.” She laughed warmly, a lilting and musical sound, “I didn’t realize you’d made such an impression on them.”

“‘M sure descending from Monty’s labyrinth covered in full bronzer would probably do that...” Jacquelyn rasped. She closed her eyes. “Though Violet and Klaus did see a less than elegant moment from me.”

“Oh, and what moment was that?” Beatrice teased.

“When I all but leapt onto the stage and beat Olaf to death with my spyglass after he tried to marry Violet,” Jacquelyn said unhappily. “And perhaps I should have done it then too, though I suppose that would’ve been less than noble.”

“Less than noble, but understandable,” Beatrice replied, a cold fury entering her eyes. “An instinct I won’t certainly hold against you, given it’s one I’m finding I have been experiencing myself lately.” Her hand curled into a fist at her side. 

“What happened?” Jacquelyn asked. “Other than the obvious.”

“That brute hit Klaus,” she growled, trying to keep her voice even. “Apparently they told Poe about it, and Poe ignored them--” 

“He _what_?” Jacquelyn demanded, pushing herself up with trembling arms. “When was this?”

“Well, they realized all was lost in regards to that trip when they discovered Poe’s secretary was Olaf’s henchperson with the hooks for hands.”

“Merde!” Jacquelyn hissed at the realization, her strength giving out again as she flopped back against the pillows. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. “If I’d known, I would have made sure to hit Olaf twice as hard.” 

Her composure cracked as a pang of guilt passed through her. After all, if she had been there, she could’ve seen the children removed from Olaf’s clutches that much sooner. “Perhaps this could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t let him get the better of me. Twice.”

“Neither time is your fault,” Beatrice assured her. “The first time you were bound by social convention...the second, you were bound to a tree. There were...what? Six henchpeople? Five?” 

“Five,” Jacquelyn grumbled. “Not that it should’ve mattered. Twice, I was in a position to stop Olaf from getting his hands on your children and twice I failed.”

“But the third time you made sure they were safe,” Beatrice reminded Jacquelyn, gently putting her hand on Jacquelyn’s shoulder so she would relax. “After the incident with the tree, you took care of me and nursed me back to health, you went to the play to save my children, then followed them to their vigorously fixed destination before bringing them back here...my god, Jacquelyn, have you even slept?”

“I’m not sure,” Jacquelyn laughed tiredly, her eyes fluttering shut. “A little when Olaf knocked me unconscious. And some in Jacques’s taxi. He’s a careful enough driver that I felt safe enough to sleep.”

“Do you feel safe with me?”

“You know I do.”

“Then _rest_ or I shall bind you to this bed myself.”

“Hmmm, is that a promise?”

“You are incorrigible, Reina Jacquelyn Scieszka.” 

“My full name? I must be in a great deal of trouble.”

“You’ll be in more if you don’t rest.”  
  
“What could you possibly add to that?”

“I’ll find a way to work your title in there too, Duchess…”

“Scandalous.”

\-- 

Meanwhile, in the other room, Uncle Monty had no problem introducing the three Baudelaire children to their new Uncle Jacques, who merely said he was an old friend of the Baudelaire parents. 

Klaus only had one curious question on the matter for his Uncle as an abundance of his questions were reserved for his mother.

“If you knew you were driving to a remote and secret location, then why did you drive here in a conspicuous yellow taxi?”  
  
Jacques merely laughed and clapped him heartily on the shoulder. “All in good time, Baudelaires. All in good time.”


End file.
